Travel Does A Number On Me

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Travel always does a number on me, but it’s one of the reasons why many of us enjoy travel, even through the mechanics of traveling from A to B.

This morning, as I walked from Vancouver’s Chinatown to the Central library branch downtown, I’ve known these streets for decades, even through the years of absence. All the same, just 2 days earlier, I’d been roaming though the German capital city of Berlin, through the streets and neighbourhoods of Charlottenburg and Mitte, some of it new, a lot of it familiar, but knowing exactly where I was, anchored by my knowledge of the extensive U- and S-Bahn network.

This time, a 4-day stop in Berlin meant I should’ve stayed longer over the past week. Even though 8 weeks last fall were a great familiarization, they fell short of what was required. Still, the city whose urban and cultural spirit is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered has a very firm hold on me.

Ultimately, on Tuesday afternoon, there on Platform 3 in the bottom-level of Berlin’s Central Station, I left a piece of my heart and soul behind for her … and I boarded a train for a quiet 5-hour journey to Frankfurt am Main. After a 10-hour non-stop flight the following day, I’m right back where I began 3 weeks ago.

I’m changed, a little more broken, but a little more emboldened by the experience, too.

“3E and 4E” (Berlin Hauptbahnhof, tief)

This post originally appeared on my Facebook profile on 15 August 2013. I included my Instagrams from August 12 for this post on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.

10 Responses to “Travel Does A Number On Me”

Hi, Anita. One’s bittersweet experience is someone else’s discovery of a lifetime. That’s not to say I didn’t discover something either; whether that discovery is life-changing remains to be seen. 🙂 Being broken means putting things back together the way things were before or having the opportunity for a completely different arrangement. Thanks for your comment!

Hi, Xandré. I had debated whether I was going to post this, but I thought better of just putting it away (or only to put it up to my friends on Facebook). Intuitively, I understood there was something deeper to which I hoped people could relate. Thank you for your support and for your kind comment! 🙂

Good post and I’m under the impression you said good bye to someone! That always hurts and if so your picture was absolutely spot on for what was in my head to your story. Sorry for the little bit broken part 😦

Hi – yes, you’ve correctly interpreted my account. I suppose the old saying “what doesn’t break me makes me stronger” is in large part true, but only to the extent that the saying assumes we’re simply unbreakable. Clearly, as a species and as individuals, we are not. Thanks for reading and for your comment!